Cakes and breads having vegetable ingredients, such as carrots, potatoes, zucchini and the like have been popular, but their commercial production and sale has been somewhat underdeveloped, largely because suitably preserved vegetables for use with acid-balanced, chemically-leavened batters have generally not been available. Commercial bakers often purchase pre-mixed batters to which they simply add water, flour, eggs and other ingredients, such as vegetables, before baking to produce the final product. Chemically-leavened batters are often used rather than yeast-leavened batters to attain certain characteristics in the final product, and to minimize processing times.
Chemically-leavened batters usually rely on a reaction between a carbon-dioxide producing agent, such as sodium bicarbonate, and an acid in the batter mix to produce carbon dioxide during baking which raises the mix. The amounts of acid and carbon dioxide producing agent in the pre-mixed dough are carefully balanced to ensure that a sufficient quantity of carbon dioxide is produced, and that all of the acid is used up during the baking process. An unbalanced system can result in undesirable flavor or color in the final product.
Bakers currently have available to them pickled vegetables, fresh vegetables, frozen and canned vegetables for use in preparing a vegetable-containing bread or cake. Pickled vegetables are not satisfactory for use in acid-balanced, chemically-leavened batters because their high acid content distorts the balanced leavening system resulting in undesirable consistancy and texture. Additionally, the resultant "pickled" flavor is highly undesirable. Fresh frozen and canned vegetables have often been used as ingredients in baked products but their use is not completely satisfactory. Preparing fresh vegetables for use in a baked product, for instance, is a time-consuming process for the baker requiring the cutting, cleaning, cooking and seasoning of the vegetables. Seasonal availability and associated spoilage are other problems associated with the storage and use of fresh vegetables that make their use inconvenient. Frozen vegetables present the problems of expensive frozen storage, as well as thawing, cutting and seasoning. Canned vegetables, on the whole, have been retort processed and as a consequence do not have the crisp consistency preferred to produce a commercially desirable product. These disadvantages make it more difficult to produce a product of uniform consistency when fresh, frozen or canned vegetables are used and can involve time-consuming efforts to prepare the vegetables before baking.